Wh a t i s l i f e ?
Written by: Marjorie Cole Design by: Desiree Hanson
What Is Life? A Case For The Dignity Of Man
Section Section Section Section Section
1 - pg.2 What Is Life? - Introduction 2 - pg 17 Where Am I Going? - The Story Of Man 3 - pg. 32 Genesis v.s. Evolution - The Theory Of Origin 4 - pg. 42 Matter, Mind, Morals, Motivation and Immortality 5 - pg.52 Obscuring Our Origin - The Search For Significance
Suggested Use For Study Guide: Use study guide in conjuction with the DVD - "What Is Life?" Sections are numbered to match corresponding chapter as listedon the DVD menu page. We suggest watching the movie chapterfirst before doing the workbook section.
Life Recovery, Inc. 2010 Marjorie Cole All Rights Reserved
What Is Life? Life? What is it? A number? A name? A trip? An entrance exam? A ticket to ride? An awareness of time? Is life a choice, or an option, a gift to be shared or a curse to be endured? Is it a trick, a cruel joke played by some disinterested supernatural force or is it an act of love demonstrated by a real being with sovereign and supreme powers? Is it merely a sequence of random events, thrown together or a purposeful expression with deliberate intention? Where does it come from? Where does it end? Is it of any significance, or is it just there, a dash between two dates carved on a cemetery stone? Who determines its price and worth? Who is there to care, or keep and comfort in the midst of its great and horrible events. Can it be replaced? Does it count? Does it last? What’s it worth?Whatever it is, life cannot be calculated in a formula or summed up in a column of figures. .Does it matter? For the casual participant, it would appear that life cannot be easily sorted out, the beginning of a matter, from its end, fact from assumption, the concrete from the subjective, the success from the failure, the core essence from the superficial, the real from the counterfeit, the dynamic from the stagnant. They all seem to melt together, the forbidden, with the desire to know, the tangible with the supernatural, the finite with the eternally enduring, making life as difficult to define as it is to do.
Pg. 2
LIVING LIFE
What is life ? Yes or no yes yes yes yes yes yes
no no no no no no
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indefinable unpredictable uncontrollable silent mysterious multifaceted
What happens to you when you take your life for granted?
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How many numbers are attached to your life? Birth Date Phone Number Street Address, Zip Code Social Security Number Various & Sundry PIN Numbers Bank Account Number Credit Card Number(s) Student ID Drivers License Number SAT Score I.Q.
y n n Je 5309
7 6 8
Can you think of any more? Why is it important to know where life comes from? (The answer to this question could indicate where you will spend forever)
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Discussion questions:
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being super-100% involved, how much does your life mean to you?_______________________________________ Describe your maximum life, one lived to the max. ________________
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Can life be replaced?______________ Can life be lost?__________________ Can life be redeemed?____________ What are some deadly assumptions I can make about life? I will be here forever. Someone else will do it for me. I am not important. I do not have anything of significance to contribute. No one will ever understand me. I am on my own.
1859-2010
Origin of the Species
Pg. 4
LIFE IS ALIVE Whatever might be said, or not said, life is alive, living, and able to recreate itself. Each form of life is able to reproduce after its kind, new life similar to its own. Reproduction insures the continuation of life even after the lives of the generators are gone. None of these observations, however, tell us where the first life, or each new life, really begins. Where does it come from? What begins the rhythmic motion of the first heart beat? What separates life from the womb in that incredible moment of birth and what sustains it through the inevitable plethora of events and emotions, the supreme ordeal of life? What determines that final moment when the heart fails to claim its next beat? What determines the moments between, when life is young and full of hope and possibility, before it encounters its final defeat, when it can no longer prevail against all that opposes it, when it falters in the midst of adversity and succumbs to an innumerable list of insidious and incredible odds? The answer seems to be as hidden as the mystery of life itself. Whether or not we embrace the Genesis record, Intelligent Design, evolution, or any other theory of the origin of life seems to be obscured by the great and sacred mystery of life itself. Though we cannot seem to agree at which moment this indescribable event begins, the moment the sperm joins with the ovum (egg) a zygote is formed. Together the sperm and the egg provide the contents for one new cell smaller than a grain of salt.
Pg. 5